Nu-methylolacrylamide treatment of feathers



United States Patent N-NETHYLOLACRYLAMIDE TREATMENT OF FEATHERS Varsenig Z. Pasternak, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army No Drawing. Filed Apr. 23, 1957, Ser. No. 654,621

4 Claims. (Cl. 8-94.10)

This invention relates to a method of treating land fowl feathers, especially chicken feathers, to increase their filling power and resiliency, and to impart permanent curliness and water repellency, thereby making such feathers an acceptable substitute for the standard down and feather mixture now in wide use for sleeping bags, comforters, etc. A further object is to employ a single chemical which will make the feathers resistant to moths and microbiological attack. Other objects will be apparent from the following description of the method presently preferred by me.

In explanation of the expression filling power, reference may be made to the report entitled A Proposed Method for Measuring the Filling Power of Down and Feathers by Henry A. Sinski, publication No. TD103037, The Oflice of Technical Services, Department of Commerce, and to the article by N. B. Edelman in Textile Research Journal, vol. 17, p. 199 (April 1947), entitled Investigation of Methods for Determining the Filling Power of Feathers. See also the Sinski et a1. Patent No. 2,706,910, dated April 26, 1955. Ordinarily, chicken feathers will have a filling power of 1.8 to 2.1 cm., while the 40/60 down-feather mixture has a filling power of 5.3 to 5.9 cm.

The term feathers as used herein includes whole land fowl feathers of the desired size range, crushed (commercial curled) land fowl feathers, land fowl feather fibers, stripped land fowl feathers, and mixtures of these.

In the preferred procedure, the feathers, if not known to be entirely free from blood, are first soaked for about ten minutes at about l-l25 F. in a water solution of a commercial blood solubilizer, such as Coagusol (a mixture of sodium hexametaphosphate and alcohol sulfate). After the soaking, the feathers are removed from the solution and are then laundered or dry cleaned. In laundering, preferably a detergent such as Tergitol NPX (alkyl phenyl ether of polyethylene glycol) is used (0.25% water solution at 1l0-l25 F.). Other non-ionic detergents have been found to be satisfactory. In general, the non-ionic type of detergents should be used to obviate any action on the protein of the feathers. Laundering continues for about twenty minutes, then the detergent solution is removed from the feathers by centrifuging or wringing. While a number of well known dry cleaning solutions could be used to clean the feathers, laundering is preferred because it is less expensive. Both laundering and dry cleaning may take place in the same vessel or container that is used during the blood-solubilizing step. Of course, if the feathers as initially received are perfectly clean, the soaking and washing or dry cleaning may be omitted.

If the feathers are from immature chickens, the damp feathers from the described laundering or dry cleaning operation are placed in a 1% water solution of trisodium phosphate Na PO .l2H O at 43-49 C. for about ten minutes. If feathers from mature chickens are being processed, the phosphate treatment period is increased to about thirty minutes. This mild alkaline treatment of ice the feathers is believed to alter the stability of the feathers by modification of the cystine linkages in the keratin. This step is important because it materially increased the curliness of the feathers and it curls naturally uncurly mature feathers, thereby 'to increase the bulk value of the final feather product. Other suitably buffered alkaline solutions, for example, sodium carbonate or borax, may be used in lieu of the phosphate solution mentioned above, but in all cases the time of the treatment must be less for immature feathers to avoid excessive degradation. Trisodium phosphate is preferred because of its quicker action due to a higer pH. It is believed that the higher concentration of cystine linkages in mature feathers en-- ables them to resist the action of the alkaline solution;

for a longer period.

The data from a successful run at The Tanners Council Research Laboratory, University of Cincinnati, will now be given. A 70 gram batch of clean chicken featherswas immersed in a solution of 40 grams of N-methylol acrylamide H C: CH--CO--NH-CH -OH in 1500 ml. of water to which a 10% Na CO solution:

ture and pH for ninety minutes. justed to 6.8 by adding dilute acetic acid, and the featherswere kept for thirty minutes longer at this pH, the temperature ranging between 44 and 40 C. Then thefeathers were removed from the solution and rinsed well with water, after which they were agitated and dried in a tumble drier. The filling power Was 5.8 on a poor grade of feathers.

The feathers treated as described were more stable than aldehyde-treated feathers and were very resistant to enzymatic degradation as tested by papain. N-methylolacrylamide is non-poisonous and easy to handle. It may be obtained commercially from the American Cyanamid Company.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A method of treating land fowl feathers to enhance their filling power, which comprises immersing said land fowl feathers in an aqueous solution of N-methylolacrylamide in the presence of a water-soluble alkaline salt in said solution, said solution having a pH of about 10 and a temperature of about 4244 C., keeping the feathers in said solution for about minutes, then adjusting the pH of said solution to substantially neutral by the addition of a dilute acid, and keeping the feathers in said substantially neutral solution at about 40-44 C. for about 30 minutes more, then removing the feathers from said solution, rinsing them with water, and drying them.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the cystine linkage of the keratin of said land fowl feathers is modified, prior to said N-methylolacrylamide treatment, by immersing said feathers in an aqueous alkaline solution until their curliness is increased, and rinsing said feathers after such immersion.

3. The product produced by the method of claim 1.

4. The product produced by the method of claim 2.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,129,219 Koga Sept. 6, 1938 2,389,292 Bjorkesten Nov. 20, 1945 2,805,913 Frederick Sept. 10, 1957 2,805,914 Frederick Sept. 10, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 550,541 Great Britain Jan. 13, 1943 569,385 Great Britain May 22, 1945 

1. A METHOD OF TREATING LAND FOWL FEATHERS TO ENHANCE THEIR FILLING POWER, WHICH COMPRISES IMMERSING SAID LAND FOWL FEATHERS IN AN AQUEOUS SOLUTION OF N-METHYLOLACRYLAMIDE IN THE PRESENCE OF A WATER-SOLUBLE ALKALINE SALT IN SAID SOLUTION, SAID SOLUTION HAVING A PH OF ABOUT 10 AND A TEMPERATURE OF ABOUT 42*-44*C., KEEPING THE FEATHERS IN SAID SOLUTION FOR ABOUT 90 MINUTES, THEN ADJUSTING THE PH OF SAID SOLUTION TO SUBSTANTIALLY NEUTRAL BY THE ADDITION OF A DILUTE ACID, AND KEEPING THE FEATHERS IN SAID SUBSTANTIALLY NEUTRAL SOLUTION AT ABOUT 40*-44*C. FOR ABOUT 30 MINUTES MORE, THEN REMOVING THE FEATHERS FROM SAID SOLUTION, RINSING THEM WITH WATER, AND DRYING THEM.
 2. THE METHOD ACCORDING TO CLAIM 1, WHEREIN THE CYSTINE LINKAGE OF THE KERATIN OF SAID LAND FOWL FEATHERS IS MODIFIED, PRIOR TO SAID N-METHLOLACRYLAMIDE TREATMENT, BY IMMERSING SAID FEATHERS IN AN AQUEOUS ALKALINE SOLUTION UNTIL THEIR CURLINESS IS INCREASED, AND RINSING SAID FEATHERS AFTER SUCH IMMERSION. 